Being a small business owner is like embodying the term “the jack of all trades.†They must develop the products, get the word out, take inventory, pack them, and ship them. While this gives you immense exposure and helps you obtain skills, it may do little good for your business.
It is because you need more to strategize, and you can only accept bulk orders, especially when it has to be delivered within a strict deadline. That's when you get the idea to outsource the storage, packing, shipping, and returns processes.
5 Shipping options for small businesses
1. UPS Solutions
If you are a small business owner, you can utilize the UPS small business program that aims to support and promote the growth of small businesses. With this option, you can schedule the pickups of your orders, manage easy returns and even get discounts on your total shipping costs.
Further, you have a service support team and get consultations to optimize your shipping strategy from logistics experts. It is a holy grail indeed.
2. USPS Benefits
USPS is an excellent option if you have a low volume of orders. USPS has a free Priority Mail Starter Kit dedicated to small businesses, allowing you to set up a PO box for your business quickly.
If you fulfill your orders in-house, you can cash in extra discounts and services like free home pickup and the Click-N-Ship option, wherein you have to pay the postage, and you will print the packing slips online.
3. FedEx benefits
FedEx has a particular shipment program for small businesses mottled FedEx Small Business, which includes many benefits that help promote small businesses and drive their growth. The platform also offers a rewards program that helps you earn discounts based on the size of your orders. If you want to maximize the efficiency of your packing, you can get the help of the Packaging Help hub.
FedEx small business shipping is excellent for shipping perishables as they have faster delivery and temperature-controlled shipping option. Additionally, you can schedule pickups to meet your order demands beforehand.
4. YouParcel
YouParcel is a logistics service provider that takes care of everything, from picking your products from your doorstep to packaging and shipping them as and when the order confirmations come in.
The benefit of hiring a 3PL or logistics service provider is many. You get to have complete control and data of the inventory at all times. It is also updated in real time. Further, you no longer have to worry about packaging or to ship your items. YouParcel does this, and you get a lot of time in hand to strategize and work on how to upscale your business.
5. Multi Carrier option
The multi-carrier option is wherein you hire multiple shipping agencies to ship your products. For example, the shipping carrier in your locality may need a well-established network in the consignee's area. In this case, you hand over or ship the items from your warehouse via a local shipping agency and drop it off at the doorstep of another agency. They then process it and deliver it to the last address.
In this method, the vendor can hand your package to more than one courier/shipping service. This shipping option is great when you have to ship your items long distance and when the shipments are to be delivered in a specified time frame.
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